Report: CBS and NBC keep PGA Tour coverage

[Darth Putter]

SBJ Media: PGA Tour, Mountain West Get New Rights Deals

The major change would be CBS doing the Fed EX Cup in alternate years. With the Playoffs in August, CBS doesn't have to worry about football being in the way.

 

[Holy Moses]

I guess the PGA Tour thought that getting their own network wasn't the best way to make more money at this point. I think they are right, but it will be interesting to see what cord cutting does to the Golf Channel. You have to wonder if what the NBA is saying as their ratings have tanked this year ("our current TV model is broken") is going to be the same problem the PGA Tour will face moving forward. You could make the argument that CBS and NBC will be less affected than cable channels will. Unfortunately, a 60% increase in rights fees for the Tour has to mean less shots shown on TV.

[MattyO1984]

The players will be patting the commissioner on the back, beyond that the quality of the coverage will do what it has always done - gradually get worse as the years go by. To be fair, I would rather that the Tour didn’t have their on channel simply because the coverage is sanitised to pretty much what the tour wants you to see now, it would be ever worse if the Tour were to be calling the shots for everything.

[golfer07840]

The TV Model of the NBA isn't broken. What's broken is that the NFL rules TV and the NBA regular season doesn't gain any momentum until at least Christmas. Also doesn't help, that most of their superstars play in the Pacific time zone.

 

As for the PGA Tour, IMO, their biggest issue with TV is too many commercials and most of their big events are over by the time the east coast is finally out playing golf. So when we do have those few big events in summer, people aren't home, it's nice out and therefore they aren't home to watch.

 

And the Golf Channel needs more programming for the middle of the week.

[jhaw]

As long as golf takes priority and doesn't get bumped for football

[Holy Moses]

The NBA has always gone up against the NFL in the fall and the ratings haven’t been as bad as this year. I think the Golf Channel will invest in better midweek programming now that they know they have the PGA Tour for 10 more years.

[MidwestGolfBum]

I can't actually imagine the Tour having their own network yet. There will come a time that a network will come available for the right price that has built out the streaming portion for them already, that they can jump on it then. Until that time, they can just sit back, collect the money from broadcast rights, and tell the networks exactly what they want shown as they have been doing for years. Cord cutting isn't going to do as much because of the fact that the weekend rounds are broadcast on network TV that you can get OTA, as well as the general demo that they are going after is more affluent and are more likely to keep the GC in whatever package they have for TV.

As soon as I saw the increase in broadcast fees, I knew immediately what that meant for us, more and more commercials. Given how hard I find it to watch the majority of tournament coverage as it is now because of them, I hope that, that increase prediction isn't going to be correct. It's gotten much easier to say "I'm going to go play golf" these days than "I can't wait to watch XX event" because of the sheer quantity of commercials.

[Phreddy]

In 2011 Callaway's stock was trading at $5 per share and now it is at $20. Golf courses were closing left and right, private clubs were being shuttered, the game was dead, millennials would never play a four hour sport, the game had come up short welcoming women and expanding to demographics outside old white guys who were kicking the bucket. Fast forward to 2020 and the price tag to the tour for broadcast rights goes from $400 million to $700 million. I hope the tour (and the players) bank some of it because human nature and business cycles being what they are we will probably repeat the pattern before 2030.

 

Phred

[DavePelz4]

Golf gets bumped for everything. Football, Winthrop vs Appalachian State college hoops...

 

Apologies to the fans of Winthrop and Appalachian State.

[Holy Moses]

It will get pushed back for NCAA basketball when CBS has January and February coverage unfortunately

[golfer07840]

Golf's schedule was literally changed because of football.

[Edward_Majorwin]

The only reason I haven't cut my traditional cable is due to live sports, and now I'm on the hook for another few years. It's painful to actually watch a final round Sunday live due to the amount of commercials, so I'm paying for the privilege of recording the whole thing and firing it up 3 hours after live broadcast begins.

 

And yes, may the Golf Channel evolve and create some good midweek fare.

[jhaw]

Anyone try GOLFTV?

[FairwaysToHeaven]

can't imagine with the current quality of coverage...or the lack thereof....not sure why any casual golfer would be interested in watching golf. there is a reason tiger brings the ratings, because there isn't much of a reason to watch otherwise because coverage is so awful.

 

on one day of presidents cup we got over 25% of time dedicated to commercials, thats insane. seems as ratings plummet, networks have decided that increasing ads at a lesser per ad fee is the answer. this only leads to fewer viewers. i used to refuse to watch unless it was dvr'd. now i'm finding myself not even watching. its just not worth it. constant commercials and FastForwarding, short putts, awful camera angles, etc etc.

 

Golf coverage is going to be circling the drain when tiger is gone if they don't figure out that a top down tower view zoomed in on the ball as it rolls towards the hole isn't the optimal way to view a putt., along with a long list of other complaints.

[Darth Putter]

The standard in American Prime Time programming is 8 minutes of commercials every 30 minutes. That's 27%, so 25% is normal not insane.

 

The only hope for lack of commercials is for sponsors to strike agreements for big events like Fox and the USGA do for the US Open. The Masters, of course, will continue to tell CBS what to do. The PGA, British Open, Players Championship and Fed EX Cup might be the most likely targets, maybe even the Genesis.

 

 

 

[blazer_fan]

So much for a significant shake up. This was the perfect opportunity to drastically alter the viewing experience and bring a more modern approach to televised golf. I was stupidly hoping that a new partner would be brought in, one that would better align the product on TV with what modern viewers actually want. It's just frustrating as a fan because we are now signed up for another decade of the same tired system. With declining viewership and a stale product (looking at you CBS), it is sad to see the Tour just double down on the losing formula. Things I would like to see: more use of drones, wide angle shots, a more thoughtful advertising plan (stop blasting the same 4 ads mixed in with a few golf shots), highlight the course architecture and the strategy required for each hole, capture every shot giving me the ability to choose what groups to follow, etc....

[FairwaysToHeaven]

I was wrong...it was 38%...nearly 40% of broadcast was commercials...!!! https://awfulannouncing.com/golf/golf-channel-producer-meghan-kuebler-tries-to-defend-commercial-heavy-presidents-cup-broadcast-predictably-gets-ratioed.html

[Holy Moses]

38% is way too high, but the Golf Channel saw record ratings anyway. There’s nothing to stop the over-the-top flow of commercials unless people stop watching.

“Look, The Masters and ESPN/CBS seem to do just fine showing less than five minutes of commercials per hour..” 5 minutes is unrealistic; the Masters doesn’t make money off the telecast. But 38% commercials is way too high.

[LICC]

On chip and pitch shots near the green, I would like for the camera at times to stay behind the golfer and watch the shot roll all the way from that angle, rather than always cutting to a high green angle every single time.

[LICC]

They are probably counting the Play Through commercials where they split the screen.

[FairwaysToHeaven]

Same for putts. I hate seeing a 20' putt and the instant the putter makes impact with the ball the cameraman immediately zooms to a close up of the ball. when it does drop....the zoomed view eliminates the player and crowd reactions. it also eliminates the sense of how far the ball rolled. golf is just antiquated when it comes to any original ideas when it comes to coverage. still resorting to the giant tv towers with top down views.

[FairwaysToHeaven]

they should. this feature seems overly abused. playing through is a commercial. i'd be curious if producers are stuffing these additional commercials into the playing through feature and convincing themselves it doesn't count in total commercial time.

 

my worry is that producers won't adapt when tiger is gone. they are busy pissing off viewers now and will end up regretting it when tiger is done and they are left with a smaller fanbase of viewers. commercials aren't bringing in new viewers and likely running off potential fans. ever watch premier league soccer, F1, etc.... they are able to be very successful and limit the commercials to a minimum.

[Holy Moses]

Good point.

[Holy Moses]

10 of those minutes were part of Playing Through according to DJ Pie

[Hawkeye77]

Once in a great while you'll even see great golf bumped to another channel for not so great golf, lol.

[nitram]

I'm not gonna be a cheerleader for the networks but whatever they decide to do is better golf coverage than we had 20+ years ago (hardly any). They're a business and have to make money or else. And I venture to say there'd be very few takers if PPV was offered.

[NaBUru38]

"The PGA Tour opted for long-term deals that will run for nine years from 2022-2030"

"CBS and NBC will produce the FedEx Cup Playoffs in alternating years."

"NBC will carry the playoffs five times and CBS will carry them four times"

NBC has the Olympics on even years. CBS airs the NCAA Final Four on odd years.

So it seems to me that they will air the FedEx Cup Playoffs on those same years.

[Holy Moses]

Would have been interesting to see if the coronavirus would have affected TV right deals had they not been signed prior to the pandemic